Big Push On To Name Vets Cemetery For Lincoln

Nine score and eight years ago this Wednesday, Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln brought forth at Hodgenville, Ky., their now famous son Abraham.

In the 188 years since his birth on Feb. 12, 1809, no fewer than 22 counties, 38 cities and countless schools, parks, banks, businesses and memorials have been named for the 16th U.S. president.

Standing at the edge of Hoff Woods in snow-covered central Will County, a pair of high-ranking federal legislators from the Land of Lincoln vowed Monday to add the national veterans cemetery to be built there to the list of sites named for Illinois' favorite son.

Of the more than 114 national veterans cemeteries under control of the National Cemetery System, none is named for Lincoln. Only a few, attached to present or former military installations, are named for individuals.

In fact, it takes an act of Congress and approval of the president to name a national cemetery for a person--as opposed to a city, state or landmark.

In a rare, joint appearance and unabashed show of bipartisanship, U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.) and U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) announced formally Monday that they would jointly introduce legislation to name the long-awaited, Chicago-area cemetery for the president who founded the national system in 1862.

They will introduce the measure in their respective legislative chambers Wednesday, Lincoln's birthday.

Flanked by a trio of men who represented veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, Moseley-Braun borrowed heavily from Lincoln's own words dedicating a Civil War graveyard at Gettysburg, Pa., in commenting on the appropriateness of the effort.

"Our proposal to name this cemetery in his honor pays tribute to those values articulated by Abraham Lincoln," she said. "It pays tribute to veterans like the men in my family and the men who are here today who fought to preserve our way of life. . . .

"In Lincoln's words, `It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this.' Naming this the Abraham Lincoln Cemetery is by far the favorite choice of veterans that he held, and that we hold, in such high regard."

Moseley-Braun and Weller said they didn't see any serious obstacles in the way of naming the cemetery, 12 miles south of Joliet, for Lincoln.

"I can think of nothing more appropriate than to name our newest veterans cemetery in the Land of Lincoln after the man who . . . began the system," said Weller.

More than 1 million veterans and family members eligible for burial in a national cemetery live within 75 miles of the 982-acre Hoff Woods site, Weller said.